Today YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks, Where do you buy most of your books? Then the post assures me that “No one is judging!” which is good because…let me screw up my courage…okay, I’ll just blurt it out. I buy most of my books at Amazon!

Let me follow that confession up with a but…but…but… I do the vast bulk of my reading on a Kindle (okay, maybe that’s another confession…mea culpa in advance), and the only place to get a Kindle book is on Amazon. But look at it this way–every book I buy, I buy new. I’m not doing as a certain member of my household does (husband!) and making all my purchases at the library’s used book sale. Because the ebooks are “new books,” the sales all benefit the author (royalties) and the publisher (whatever they net) as well as Amazon.

Still, there is one party left out of the equation here–the brick-and-mortar bookseller. I have an answer to that–I have a granddaughter (did you hear the birds singing and the flowers blooming when you read that? No? Surely you saw the glow from my grin?). Anyway, I love buying my granddaughter picture books. While I could order them from Amazon (and have once or twice), I like to see those books close up and in person before I buy. So I much prefer to purchase gifts for my granddaughter at a physical bookstore. Or even better yet, an indie, like Sundance Books in Reno where I bought Nosh, Schlep, Schluff and a couple others.

(I just realized, it’s a good thing my granddaughter can’t read yet. Because of course she’d read her Nonna’s blog and then she’d know what she was getting for Christmas.)

So yes, I’m aiding and abetting the monolithic overlord that is Amazon with all my ebook purchases. But I’m also supporting my local book stores with grandchild purchases. Hopefully the latter is enough penance for the former (can you tell I was raised a Catholic?).

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About karensandler

Lover of chocolate. A couple felines short of full-fledged Cat Lady. Author of the YA Tankborn Trilogy (TANKBORN, AWAKENING, and REBELLION), from Tu Books. Founding team member of We Need Diverse Books. Opinions expressed here are my own.

8 Responses to RTW – Where do you buy most of your books?

I think we’re all in pretty much the same boat: we have a desire to read, and bank accounts that can’t always keep up, so we have to make tough choices. I hope your granddaughter appreciates your book gifts. 🙂

I agree with Colin on this. If you love reading but are on a budget, you’re going to get books wherever you can for a good price. I more than make up for my cheaper book buying by buying pricey books from time to time at brick-and-mortar bookstores, as I’m sure you do too. That book for your granddaughter is super cute =)

I pay the overlord, too. He’s cheap and easy compared to some other overlords. But while Amazon is my go-to store for paper books, I get my e-books from Barnes and Noble. That’s mostly because I have a Nook and, well, that’s where you buy Nook books.

Have you been to Harmony Books in Nevada City? I could just curl up in their picture book section and never leave. We stopped by there a few weeks ago and I was sad that none of our nieces and nephews are picture book age any longer. But I still buy them for my inner child occasionally!